Is it wrong if I tell you that I love you?
by DistractionCake
Summary: "She hovers over the pictures for a second before clicking to enlarge them. Her breath catches in her throat. In the pictures Alison is holding hands with…another girl." Summary: One of my {AU} PROMPTS as a one-shot.


**AN: Hey, guys :) It's been a while. Hope you're all doing okay! If you've noticed, I've been posting old tumblr fics here and this fic in particular was also originally part of my PROMPTS. However, I felt it worked better here on its own as a one-shot. Hopefully you all enjoy it! xx**

original prompt: _Emily and Haleb are at a bar on Emily's 21st birthday and Emily has been trying to get in contact with Alison for months until she finally sees her on a date with a woman at the same bar and Emily gets jealous_ — Not exactly like this, but you'll see :)

 **Disclaimer:** Full title of the fic is: "Is it wrong if I tell you that I love you? (Even though I'd never do it when I'm sober)" courtesy of 5SOS's _Moving Along_

* * *

"Cheers!" the whole groups clinks their glasses together.

"Happy Birthday, Em," Hanna says as she throws her free arm around the other girl's shoulder and pulls her closer.

"Thanks, Han," Emily answers as she lets herself be dragged into Hanna's arms, the blonde placing a kiss on her head before letting go.

"Who wants shots?!" she yells out as their group cheers. Emily laughs as she sees Hanna walk over to the bar, followed by Emily's roommates, Jen and Kennedy.

She looks over to Caleb who's laughing along at his girlfriend's antics, before turning to continue his conversation with Marco, Emily's gym partner, and Ryan, one of Emily's coworkers at the coffee shop.

She's just turned 21 and is celebrating it in Cali with the few close friends she's made throughout the 3 years she's been here. The other girls were invited to come, but only Hanna and Caleb could find the time to come over, their visit to Emily extending into a visit to Caleb's mother.

Emily is nothing short of thankful for it.

* * *

As the night goes on, Hanna decides that they need to take as many selfies as humanly possible until they get the right one.

After she's chosen, she posts it onto Emily's social media accounts with some ridiculous caption, before skipping off to Caleb.

Emily shakes her head and laughs, but nonetheless let's the photo stay. She starts to scroll through her Facebook feed when a post manages to make her stomach jump.

It's posted by some guy she doesn't even know, but seeing as **Alison DiLaurentis** is tagged in it, Facebook has decided it's Emily's duty to see it.

She hovers over the pictures for a second before clicking to enlarge them.

Her breath catches in her throat.

In the pictures Alison is holding hands with…another girl.

Emily swipes until there's one of just the two women, captioned _hottest couple_. A couple of clicks later and Emily finds out her name's Amber (Amber and Alison, how _cute_ ), she's 26, she goes to The Art Institute of Philadelphia (pink hair and tattoos, how _edgy_ ), and she works at a pet store (how _lovely)_.

Social media is a disease.

Emily taps out of the app, before grabbing a shot straight off the tray Kennedy is bringing.

"Woah, get it Em!" she cheers on with a laugh.

* * *

Her head is spinning a bit, but she's good - she's _good_.

She's on her dorm room couch, Hanna and Caleb taking her bed for the weekend.

Jen is out, having gotten lucky, and Kennedy, from the sounds of it, is in the shower. Emily makes a mental note to check on her in a few minutes to make sure she hasn't drowned.

Emily starts to hum along to that new Ariana Grande song, until she realizes it's her phone ringing.

"Oh," Emily says as she struggles to pull it out of her tight jeans pocket. Once out though, Emily can't help but laugh out loud at the name that flashes across her screen.

 **Alison DiLaurentis**

Emily knows she shouldn't answer - not when she's been drinking and and and

"Hello?" Alison's voice comes through.

"Shit," Emily mumbles as she realizes she's answered the call, pulling the phone to her ear.

"Hi."

"Em! Hi, Hello. Happy Birthday!" Alison says in a funny voice.

Emily scrunches up her face, "Ali, I think you're drunk."

"Just, a fewdrinks. I forgot to text earlier, so I'm glad you're still up, but I didn't want you to think I forgot your birthday, because I didn't forget it, I just forget-forgot to text earlier isall," Alison says.

"A few drink with Amber?" Emily can't help but snark.

The line goes quiet, before Emily speaks again. "I'm sorry," she sighs. "That was uncalled for."

"How do you know about Amber?" Alison asks, sounding clearer than she had before.

"Facebook."

"Social media is a disease," Alison mutters.

Emily closes her eyes at the remark. She tips her head back on the couch, looking at their ugly roof.

"Thank you for the birthday wishes, Alison. Have a good night," she sighs.

"You didn't want to do long distance," Alison says softly.

Emily's hand tightens on the phone, because it's true.

That summer before they all left for college, she and Alison… The option was there, but Emily didn't want - she wasn't sure - she.

Emily said no.

But.

"You didn't want to leave Charlotte," Emily responds.

"She's my sister," Alison counters.

"And I'm your…" Emily trails off. Because she's not Alison's _anything_ anymore, is she?

"I'm allowed to date, Emily. I'm not going to sit here and wait for you, just like I know you're not sitting over there waiting for me."

"Ali.."

"When did you last fuck a girl, huh Em?" Alison angrily asks.

"Alison."

"Come on, tell me you hypocrite," Alison says her voice breaking, sadness overtaking her anger.

Emily doesn't answer, knows the answer isn't the point, that it won't fix anything. It's quiet for a bit longer, before Emily speaks, "We've both been drinking."

"It's late," Alison concedes.

"I…"

"Em, I'm going to bed," Kennedy says as she pops out of her bathroom.

"Okay," Emily responds without moving.

As Kennedy walks away, Emily hears Alison's empty laughter on the line.

"You are such a hypocrite."

"That's Kennedy, my roommate," Emily snaps. "You'd know if you'd ever once visited me."

"Oh, like you come to Rosewood that often," Alison counters.

" _Al, babe, everything okay?_ " a new voice says.

Amber.

"Yeah, I'll be right in," Alison responds.

It goes quiet again and Emily rubs at her face wondering how the hell they keep ending up here? In this broken, angry, unresolved, painful place. Because Emily would give anything to fix it.

Emily opens her eyes and sits straight up on the couch. She would do _anything_ to fix it.

"Look Emily -" Alison sighs, "I just called to wish you a happy birthday, okay? I didn't call to fight -"

"Break up with her," Emily says.

"What?"

"I'll buy a plane ticket, be in Rosewood for Thanksgiving. You buy one for Christmas."

"Don't," Alison says seriously.

"Alison."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"I'm not," Emily emphatically states.

Because she's not. She'll do it, she will. She's waited long enough, deluded herself into thinking she was over Alison when in fact, just the sight of her with someone else makes her blood boil…makes her heart break.

"You've been drinking," Alison responds.

"Drunk mind, sober heart or whatever," Emily counters.

The line goes quiet. Emily let's the silence linger as she reaches for Jen's tablet, which she left on their coffee table. She goes to the travel app, the girl a frequent flyer to her family down in Florida. Emily searches for tickets to Pennsylvania, Alison's breathing the only thing assuring Emily that she's still on the line.

"One way ticket to Philly on the 25th, pretty cheap," Emily softly says.

"I can't take you breaking my heart again," Alison quietly replies.

"Why did you call me tonight, Alison?" Emily asks. Because the last couple of years, she's gotten texts - she's _never_ called.

"I saw your stupid photo with Hanna."

Emily shakes her head, a small smile on her face.

"Break up with your girlfriend."

"Buy the ticket."

"Done."


End file.
